Control of operational energy costs continues to be a high priority with businesses and governments. Often the operational energy costs are impacted significantly by occupant behavior in addition to the mechanical systems and building envelope. The assessment and implementation of operational energy savings related to mechanical systems consumption due to heating and cooling loads is fairly well understood. Implementation of energy savings due to building envelope upgrades, for example, an upgrade of glazing systems or addition of insulation provides measurable results. However, implementation of energy savings due to changes in occupant behavior is not well understood. Occupant behavior varies widely depending on many factors. Therefore, observation and feedback of occupant behavior impact on energy usage is necessary to isolate occupant related savings from mechanical system and building envelope related savings.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0173456 to Hirl discloses assessing the performance of a building to support operational and financial decisions with multiple data processes to improve building energy usage. However, Hirl does not look at detailed operations of accessory equipment and lighting to determine energy savings.
U.S. Pat. No. 8,239,178 to Gray, et al. discloses computer monitoring of energy loads to provide predicted data values to a load monitoring server. Gray while modeling the energy loading of a building does not describe a detailed model of how to affect the energy load and realize energy savings.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,216,021 to Matsubara, et al. discloses a system for managing energy consumption for a facility that calculates wasteful energy consumption of a unit belonging to the facility based on an operational past record. Matsubara requires an onsite building management system utilizing a comfort index control and collection of operational past records for the individual units of the facility which is costly and complex.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2010/0324962 to Nesler, et al. discloses a computer program that processes information from an energy grid to calculate values used for the control of mechanical systems. Nesler requires an integrated control layer and active building management which can be costly and overly complex, especially for simpler building environments.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0130924 to James discloses analyzing energy use in a building based on factors such as weather and configurable energy settings for devices that consume energy. James requires a network and a remote or onsite monitoring computer connected to the building to determine and affect energy savings.
U.S. Patent Application No. 2012/0035776 to Zaragoza, et al. discloses an energy management system for a building which obtains energy usage data to determine a minimum feasible load which corresponds to operational conditions of the building, such as occupied or unoccupied. A threshold based on the minimum feasible load is used to monitor energy usage with the building and to identify anomalies in energy demand. The system of Zarazoga, et al. uses a pre-determined occupancy map and does not address inaccuracies in the pre-determined occupancy map.